OVERVIEW
The main training element should be sharing, revising, discussions and assessment based. Discussions and activities are incorporated into the course so that participants can reflect on what they have learnt or can plan lessons using the skills/knowledge they acquired from the course.

Objectives

At the end of the workshop, participants will have:      

• Knowledge and understanding of the system and conventions of English grammar with immediate application in teachers’ own spoken and written language through hands-on practice

Training Methodology
Background

The growing popularity and subsequent emphasis and importance of the English Language in recent years have call for a different approach to the teaching of Grammar.

General Approach

Today the teaching of grammar is no longer an explanation of the basic rules and exceptions peppered with general examples and practice exercises. It is teaching in the context of a situation. This makes teaching more rewarding and less monotonous for the teachers and learning more meaningful for the students.

In order for teachers to impart fluency and accuracy in the English Language to students, it is important for them to teach grammar using realia. What better way than to teach grammar in context.

General Structure

This course will be structured in the following manner:

1. The rules and conventions of grammar and how they are incorporated into everyday situations;
2. Their application to paragraphs and text;
3. Application to different text types
4. Common errors found in the usage of English in Singapore
5. Use of grammar resource  
6. A lesson demonstration by Trainer
7. Course participants will present a lesson moderated by their peers.

Implementation and Methodology

The rules and conventions of grammar and how they are incorporated into everyday situations.

The following possible grammatical structures (subject to changes) that have been selected for this course:

• Present Simple and Continuous
• Past Simple and Continuous
• Past Perfect
• Modal verbs
• Future Forms
• Question forms
• Verb patterns
• Present Perfect Simple
• Conditionals
• Modal verbs
• Present Perfect Continuous
• Indirect questions
• Reported speech

There will be a lesson proper for each of the grammatical structure mentioned above. Course participants will be taken through each lesson and shown the different activities, exercises relating to that structure within a given context.

They will experience first-hand what their own students will go through by being “students” themselves. Each lesson involves hands-on activities where participants will involve themselves in groups or in pairs. Rationale and reasoning behind these activities will be fully explained.  Activities will encompass listening tasks, authentic speaking exercises, reading and writing projects and assignments.

Their application to paragraphs and different text types

Both these learning objective will be fulfilled when participants are engaged in the writing component in each of the grammatical conventions being taught.

Common errors found in the usage of English in Singapore

Analysis of errors fall under the following specifications:

• Redundancies
• Omissions
• Misuses
• Misinterpretation

 The following relevant issues would also be discussed:

• Features of the Relative Clause in Singapore English
• Tenses and Will/Would in a Corpus of Singapore English
• Influences of Chinese and Malay on the Written English of Secondary Students in Singapore
• Common Errors in Singaporean Books of Common Errors
• Connectors in Primary School Writing
• Students' Perceptions of Grammar Corrections in Compositions: A Singapore Study

Use of grammar resource

Course participants will be shown a variety of books relevant to the above teaching methodology and how they could be adapted for classroom use. The strengths and weaknesses in each of these textbooks will be examined.

Participants are then to reflect the extent to which these texts could be used in their respective classroom settings.

Lesson demonstrated by Trainer and Participants

The Trainer will give a demo lesson bringing together all that have been covered throughout the course. Thereafter, course participants will select any of the grammatical structure and give a presentation using what they have learned using their peers as their students. Once the presentation has been made, participants will do a peer-to-peer evaluation.

Programme

Course Outline

Session one (3 hours)

• Teaching Present Simple and Continuous
• Teaching Past Simple and Continuous
• Teaching Past Perfect

Session 2 (3 hours)

• Teaching Modal verbs
• Teaching Future Forms
• Teaching Question forms

Session 3 (3 hours)

• Teaching Question forms
• Teaching Verb patterns
• Teaching Present Perfect Simple
• Teaching Conditionals

Session 4 (3 hours)

• Teaching Modal verbs
• Teaching Present Perfect Continuous
• Teaching Indirect questions
• Teaching Reported speech

Session 5 (3 hours)
Common errors found in the usage of English in Singapore

• Redundancies
• Omissions
• Misuses
• Misinterpretation

Session 6 (3 hours)
Common errors found in the usage of English in Singapore

• Features of the Relative Clause in Singapore English
• Tenses and Will/Would in a Corpus of Singapore English
• Influences of Chinese and Malay on the Written English of Secondary Students in Singapore

Session 6 (3 hours)

• Common Errors in Singaporean Books of Common Errors
• Connectors in Primary School Writing
• Students' Perceptions of Grammar Corrections in Compositions: A Singapore Study

Session 7 (3 hours)

Use of grammar resource

Session 8 (3 hours

Lesson demonstration by Trainer

Session 9 (3 hours)

Lesson demonstration by course participants